Contractors, engineers, consumers, researchers, equipment specifiers, manufacturers and others can now tap into PrimeNet at www.ariprimenet.org for thousands of pages of electronic product performance ratings information. The new Web site from the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) contains the online versions of all ARI directories, including:

* Unitary Directory

* Applied Directory

* Air-to-Air Energy Recovery Ventilation Equipment

* Automatic Commercial Ice-Cube Machines and Ice Storage Bins

* Direct Geoexchange Heat Pumps

* Drinking-Water Coolers

* Refrigerant Recovery/Recycling/Reclamation Equipment

* Transport Refrigerant Units

PrimeNet users search - for free - the performance ratings for all ARI certified equipment. PrimeNet provides accurate real-time information that is more economical than printing paper directories and it allows users to define search parameters and quickly access information.

"For instance, a contractor may be looking for an air conditioner with a specific capacity and efficiency rating. Once he or she enters the parameters, the results come up immediately," says Henry Hwong, ARI director of Certification Programs. "The database is constantly changing and always being updated."

Hwong says that in addition to manufacturers, engineers, and contractors, many utility and government agency employees are using PrimeNet as well. "Utility personnel use the database to verify SEER ratings to see if a system qualifies for a rebate."

ARI will offer paper versions of many of it's directories, but after June, 2002, The Applied and Unitary directories will only be available on www.ariprimenet.org. "In keeping with a phase-out schedule approved by the ARI Board of Directors, the last paper copies of ARI's Unitary and Applied directories will be printed and distributed in January 2002," according to Hwong. "After June 30, 2002, PrimeNet will be your only source for ARI's product performance ratings."

According to Mark Menzer, ARI's vice president of Engineering and Research, PrimeNet provides "one-stop" comparison shopping. "By comparing the product performance ratings, the best product for a particular job can be selected with the assurance that the product will perform as indicated in the directory," said Menzer. "ARI goes through an extensive process of verifying a manufacturer's performance claims. That's one of the reasons the ARI certification emblem on a product is a mark of confidence in product performance." Log onto PrimeNet today at www.ariprimenet.org.